Anton e



lUNlTlED dramas Parent @rrrcn.

ANTON E, NEXVMAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONEHALF TO CARTJETON C. VALENTINE, OF SAME PLACE.

MANUFACTURE OF FIBER FOR PAPER, 850.

EPECIFECA'IZON forming part of Letters Patent No. (318,1-33, dated May 19, 1885.

Application filed October 16, 1884.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTON E. NEWMAN, of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Manufacture of Fiber for Paper, 850.; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to the preparation of fiber for the manufacture of paper, the object being, first, the more effectual and economical reduction of the raw or fiber-producing mate rial to a useful fiber; second, to render the fiber practically incombustible or uninflammable, and, thirdly, to bleach the fiber effectually Without injury thereto.

My invention therefor consists of three steps, all relating to one end-the manufacture of a fiber fit for those purposes for which fiber is ordinarily used, and free from the liability of combustion, to which articles made out of ordinary vegetable fiber are subject.

In the first step, I subject the raw material to the action of caustic lye. These materials may consist of jute, flax, hemp, common nettles, china-grass, or any like materials from which such fiber is usually obtained. Of some of such material or plants I place, for example, two hundred pounds in a suitable vessel of about twenty-four hundred liters capacity, filled to two-thirds of its capacity with water, to which caustic lye has been added until 3 Reaumur is indicated by the areometer. The vessel is supplied at the bottom with an ordinary heating coil or worm,which is in connection with a steam-boiler. At the time of introducing the said material into the vessel, or afterward, steam is turned on through the coil or worm until the liquid has been heated to about 175 centigrade. In the liquid maintained at this temperature the material is allowed to remain one hour. Longer boiling renders the fiber finer, but somewhat impairs its strength, and less boiling leaves it coarser. The exact degree or amount of boiling is left to the skill of the manufacturer. At the end of the boiling above described I add to the liquid in which the material is boiling, and for the purpose of softening it, two pounds of tallow soap and a little more than one and three-quarters pound of chloride of tin, and

(No specimens.)

thereafter the boiling is continued another hour. After this the material is washed in an ordinary washing apparatus, and is then dried, preferably in a centrifugal drier. It is then placed in the. second vessel of the same capacity as that in which it was boiled, as above described, which vessel is filled to about two-thirds of its capacity with water, which is brought to aboiling-point in the same manner. About sixtytwo grams of blue vitriol and sal-ammoniac and four pounds of crystal soda are dissolved in this water; the material boiled therein one hour. Thereafter it is properly washed in suitable washing apparatus and again wrung out, and, if necessary, also dried. It is then in condition for manufacture into paper, or into any fabric for which fiber is fitted or ordinarily used; but is not fire or flame proof, this quality being imparted by the second step in the process, if such quality be desired.

The second part of my invention relates to the treatment of the material after it has been subjected to aforesaid process; and for the purpose of rendering it uninfiammable, it is placed into a closed vessel or vat, and for every one hundred pounds of material I add four pounds of lime, four pounds of blood, and one pound chemically pure muriat-ic acid. WVater must be added sufficiently to cover the material completely during the boiling, and in this boiling I increase the heat, the steam being superheated, a two-thirds additional atmospheric pressure,and the boiling is carried on uninterruptedly for five to six hours. By this method of boiling there is no danger of explosion, and all interior rubbing is avoided, the waste is small, and there is no weakening of the fibers. After this boiling, the liquid is emptied while it is hot-that is, immediately. If the liquid is emptied fresh and hot and quickly, the material will be clean enough, and can be brought immediately into the washingcylinder, where it is washed in lukewarm water, and the washing is ended as soon as the water runs off clear. After this the material is drained in the usual manner.

It will be understood that the fibrous material treated by the second step above described may be obtained by the process described as the first step, or by any known and suitable means for obtaining fiber from fibrous raw material; but I prefer to use my first step for the reason that the process is shorter and there is less cost or waste of fiber, and no after treatment is required to fit the fiber for use.

The bleaching, when required, for the fiber is done as follows: I obtain dephlogisticated muriatic acid gas by pouring into a largesized retort one part of manganese and by covering it with two to three parts muriatic acid. I then put the retort in a warm bath, 80 Reaumur, and connect the retort with a receiver, where the fiber is placed. As soon as the muriatic acid dissolves the manganese,the dephlogisticated m'uriatic-acid gas goes over into the receiver and bleaches to a clear white the whole material without destroying the fiber. Six pounds manganese and three liters chemically pure muriatic acid are sufficient for two hundred pounds of fibrous material.

After the bleaching, the fibrous material is introduced in a vat with five pounds of the best alum and two pounds of sulphate of alumina. YVater enough is added to cover the goods, which are boiled therein two hours. The fiber is then dried, and the uninfiammable or fireproof and bleached fiber is completed. For any of the materials specified above, known chemical equivalents may be used; but I prefer those specified.

I claim as my invention- 1. The above-described process of obtaining fiber from fibrous stock or materials, said process consisting in first boiling the materials in a solution. of caustic lie, with tallow soap and chloride of tin added thereto, and in boiling a second time in asolution of blue vitriol, whereby the fiber is produced, all substantially as described.

2. The described method of treating fiber to render it fire-proof or uninfiammable, the same consisting in boiling said fiber in lime, blood,and muriatic acid mixed with'water, as and in the proportions substantially as described.

3. The method of treating fibrous stock or material, consisting in first boiling in caustic lye, tallow soap, and chloride of tin, and subsequently in blue vitriol; second,in drying the fiber and again boiling it in water with lime,

blood, and muriatic acid, all substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the'presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ANTON E. NEW'MAN.

Witnesses:

WM. E. SHAW, O. G. VALENTINE. 

